There is a strong link between childhood physical activity (PA), adult PA and morbidity and mortality. Morbidity and mortality related to hypokinetic disease disproportionally impact non-white minorities and people of low socioeconomic status (SES). To date, there is a dearth of research regarding the Arab American population and PA levels. The purpose of this research was to determine if PA levels differed between White, African American and Arab American urban elementary school children.
Method:
This cross-sectional study involved 285 (117 males; 168 females) fourth grade urban elementary school students of low SES who self-identified as African American (n= 171), Arab American (n= 43), or White (n = 71). PA was objectively measured during the school day using Actigraph G3TX+ accelerometers. PA data was collected over a period of three consecutive school days and an average amount of MVPA was calculated. Data were screened for missing values, outliers, and normality and then an ANOVA was run using MVPA as the dependent variable and race and gender as the independent variables.
Analysis/Results:
Significant main effects were found for both race F(2, 284) = 10.94, p < 0.001, h2 = .07 and gender F(1, 284) = 15.55, p < 0.001, h2 = .05 as well as the interaction of race and gender F(2, 284) = 5.30, p < 0.01, h2 = .04. Specifically, male students were more active than female students (Mmale = 62.44; Mfemale = 53.23) while Caucasian students were more physically active than their African American and Arab American counterparts (MCaucasian = 64.02, MAfricanAmerican = 52.82, MArabAmerican = 56.68. There were no significant differences between African American and Arab American students.
Conclusions:
Few studies have explored the PA levels of Arab American children. The most significant finding of this research is the low levels of PA in minority urban youth indicating a strong need to implement early interventions geared towards increasing these students’ PA levels. These findings are especially troubling given the evidence supporting the protective effect of PA in the fight against cancer, cardiovascular disease and obesity. Childhood PA levels are linked to adult PA levels and early interventions among minority populations, specifically African American and Arab American children are necessary to stem the long term health impact of physical inactivity.